Memorial Day 2008~Sedona

Typically for Memorial Day I would visit my grandparents graves, or go to Bryce Canyon to celebrate their Anniversary place...however being in Arizona (they are in Utah, California) we decided to spend the day hiking as a family(my sister Mindy was in town too)!

It was absolutely beautiful weather!!!!!! Not too hot and not too cold.

We found a free trail in Sedona and went--the kids LOVED it! I have found that Ryland and Sterling REALLY get into it, they wanted to keep going an going when we FINALLY made them turn back!

I am always in awe at how beautiful it is in Sedona, and I am definitely finding the beauty in the desertIf you look closely, you can see the Blue Jay on the top of the middle branches in the tree, between the two tall rocks!

A Bad Case of the Lima Beans!

I remember reading this book when I was in a Children's Literature Class at BYU (we own it now-the curse of a school teacher...never enough children's books in your home library!). It is about a girl that loves Lima beans but is afraid to eat them in front of other people because she thinks they will make fun of her. Incidentally she gets a bad case of stripes and the only cure is to eat Lima beans... she FINALLY does, and is cured. She never goes back to being afraid of eating Lima beans.
Being a Lima Beans lover myself I did not think Lima Beans were repulsive enough to solicit attention....until I fed them to the kids in front of DAN!!!
Dan was absolutely FLOORED when I whipped open a can of Lima Beans for snacks, and then proceeded to feed them to the kids for lunch the next day. He kept whispering to me "Did you take a picture of this for your blog?" "I CAN"T believe our kids love Lima beans." "I just can't believe it." I just had to chuckle as I thought of the Stripes children's book in my head. Dan and some of his siblings are not big fans of veggies all together. So I guess I should not have been surprised that he is surprised!
(Sterling's face paint from the last day of preschool and a plate of Lima beans to celebrate!)

Lima beans Anyone?!!!!

Week Synopsis 5/19-5/25

Monday May 19- The weather hit record highs for the next two days getting up to 105..I was starting to really dread this summer, even with ceiling fans full blast. I am not quite ready for it yet! I spent a large portion of the day baking things for Colton's class, Sterling's preschool, and the graduating seminary seniors..my kitchen is a wreck. The doctor called and my x-rays came back looking HEALTHY for my thumb--I was wearing my splint most the day b/c it hurt so bad.I was relieved for no casting, and frustrated (then what is wrong with it?) by the news.While Dan did a family home evening lesson, I looked over and saw our kids sitting on the couch, cuddling, snuggling and sitting--all four of them--I was IN LOVE!! I remembered that Dan had asked me to marry him 8 years ago...and look how far we have come!!!

Tuesday May 20-It is so HOT! I went into Colton's classroom for one last volunteer day. I got to take down bulletin boards, take down staples, clean out teachers drawers and glue bottles. Thought I saw the last of those days when I walked away from teaching to have kids...wrong!! I don't mind at all--I miss it in a sick kinda' way. I got to sign the kids yearbook pages w/ my name (K.I.T-remember those days?), and got a gift of candles from the teachers. We also shared cupcakes and gave Colton his Birthday spankings! His class celebrates all the summer birthdays the last few weeks, with pretend ones.The rest of the day was wrecking the kitchen and cleaning it back up in time for the seminary gals to come over from Dan's class, his students he taught this year! They decided to have an end-of-the-year "shin dig" at our house!! It turned out VERY well and we enjoyed the time with Dan's students and allot of my old Young Women (when I had served as YW president in the other ward)...dancing! (dance dance revolution)

Wednesday May 21-It has cooled down by 20 degrees or so, and it was on and off stormy for most the day. Sterling had his last day at preschool without knowing it (since it got cancelled b/c of rain on Friday)--he came home with face paintings, smiles, toys, and candy..or should I say GUM,who in their right mind gives preschoolers GUM?!!! We ended up with GUM melted and dried (thanks to the dryer) into a whole batch of our laundry and stuck to Ryland's bum when he got out of the car. How can you make your kid throw it away when he got it as a gift and everyone else is chewing it AT the school? Maybe other children are more responsible then my own (we even have a strict rule WITH consequences about getting the gum INTO a trash after they are done w/it)...I don't know how it happens, but it does in our household--so NO GUM is still in force over here...until my kids are 20!!! Sterling was a great helper today in feeding Dacie, while I got us ready to go to his preschool bar-b-q. I had to go single parenting it too, for the first 45 minutes or so...it was a bit of a juggling act, until Dan arrived straight from work. It was a happy ending to Sterling's school year. Dan went and played ball with the boys late into the evening.

Thursday May 22- I sent Colton to school in a swimsuit, covered in sunscreen w/ a towel and umbrella?!! Colton said it was a pretty cold day, but it sounds like they went ahead with water day plans at the school- Colton was too scared to try the BIG slide we had all paid money for--next year right? I answered phones ALL day for Taylor and Sons Hauling as they have a daughter graduating and a post grad party to be in charge of! That evening was spent at the ball fields and park for Colton and Sterling's final T-ball game of the season. I was much more impressed with this years season than last...maybe the new ball fields help loosen the schedule up a bit w/ nicer accommodations. Both the boys really want to play soccer...I am ready for them to start favoring one sport or the other...Basketball will be the ONLY non-drop out sport in our family (ha ha....just kidding).

Friday May 23- It was a weird kinda day. It rained pretty hard, so we were all indoors for most the day. Colton had a half-day for his final day of school and Sterling had NO SCHOOL. Summer has begun with a house FULL of kids! I tried getting ready for my sister (Mindy) to come visit. It is not often I can talk my family members into coming...so I have to make it special! Sterling went and played at one of his favorite girlfriends houses (Emma) to ease my cleaning plight and soften the "no school today" blow. Despite the reprieve and my ambitions..I only had the bathrooms done by the time Dan got home. He helped with the last of the cleaning, and I could really kick it into HIGH GEAR when the kiddos were asleep. It was unfortunate that my sister got lost in the mountains on dirt roads--but I was fortunate to have more time to get it in order. She arrived at 10:20pm, and of course we stayed up until 12:30 talking. Dacie had Mindy up at 6:30am the next morning (as they are sharing a room)--no rest for the weary! I answered phones for work all day again.

Saturday May 24- After making a big breakfast of eggs, grapefruit and cold, buttery toast (compliments of chef Colton) Mindy and I went for a "Girls Day" up to Flagstaff. We went and picked up the new stroller I bought off of craigslist. When I went there, the lady asked "do you happen to be LDS?" (as she was too) I said yes, and she exclaimed. "Oh I could tell by your voice on the phone". The stroller was in 'mint' condition...I got a steal. We also went and checked out the KOA campsite my family and I will be staying at for our reunion in 2 weeks (I am in charge this year). It is not what I expected..but it has hidden potential, and benefits I was not planning on. There was snow on the ground from the extreme temp changes lately and I think it 'threw' my sister off, as now she is talking about bringing a heater for her tent--ha ha.Then we caught a 'chic flick' (Made of Honor) and dinner. A trip to Sam's Club to buy the reunion paper goods and some ice cream topped off our night. Dan played video games to his hearts content and took the kids to 4 (that's right 4) different fast food places to get the kids EXACTLY what they wanted. Now I wonder why I am not the favorite? We bought some groceries and rented a movie to watch with Dan. Another late evening!

Sunday May25- Not very many people at church today. Mindy (my sister) spent most of her time with Dacie in the halls, so Dan could actually hear a lesson and I could run around singing as normal. We all got naps and a nice dinner.Aunt Mindy is a hit with her balloons, making cookies,Go Fish, and Sorry Games--can we keep her? A live-in nanny sounds like sweet harmony to me! We ended the evening with a Knights of Catan match--Dan won, that is why he is in no big hurry to play us again!

~This past week closed allot of chapters and seasons for us. It was a time of celebration! The next few weeks bring birthdays, holidays and reunions-- it will be interesting to 'find our place' this summer (the bunch of us at home). Oh, but don't worry we will keep you posted!!!

Bye Bye T-Ball!

On Thursday Eve (5/22) Colton and Sterling had their LaSt T-BALL game of the season! So the whole family went to cheer them on!
Sterling had a GrEaT hit..after knocking down the T a time or two
Colton kicked into high-running gear as he headed for home!
and as the LaSt high five's ended...
the team ran over to the park for trophies and root beer floats
The mini-party ended just as the rain began, that had been threatening to come all evening--Afterwards, we sat as a family under the pavilion at the park listening to rain hit the roof as we ate dinner!
Go Mariners!!

First Swim (and final farewell) of the Season!!!!

Sterling sitting next to one of his favorite preschool aids, Ms Erica after getting his scrapbook-they are in blue front and middle!

Sterling's Preschool did their Final "Ta-Da" at one of the teachers' homes (who was incedentally one of our first freinds here in Cottonwood)...The Backus's. They have a beautiful home and backyard, and we enjoyed the comforts of that home, as we held a pot luck there Wednesday (5/21) evening.

They had a beautiful playground, trampoline, field, horseshoes, gazeebo, fireplace, swimming pool....

Colton climbing down from the playground-far right in blue

After the food was devoured, scrapbooks handed out, and gifts given...they opened up the pool. They had told the kids they they were going to do this at preschool, Sterling had passed the news along to his siblings...so there was NO talking my kids out of it, despite the weather (the clouds and wind rolled in w/ on and off rain). Dan and I enjoyed getting wet watching on the sidelines as they enjoyed their first swim of the summer!!!

Seminary Bar-B-Q!!!

(Missing the Westover Twins, in this picture, and their family who arrived later!)

On Tuesday(5/20) Evening we helped end Seminary with a BaNg!! ..and we had Dan's seminary class over for a bar-b-Q and some DaNcInG (dance, dance revolution) --to say our final farewells!!!

(we were glad that the seniors all made it, so Dan could say good-bye properly this time)Carly Blair 'tearing it up" on the dance floor--she 'schooled' us all...even holding Dacie below!

Sterling getting in on the action as well!